Wings of the Future
by Shadow Master
Summary: A Star Trek VoyagerGundam Wing Crossover. The crew of Voyager is about to encounter an enemy unlike any they have faced before and only Lt. Stone can save them.
1. Default Chapter

"Wings of the Future" by Ryley Breen aka Shadow Master

email: ryley_breen@hotmail.com

Disclaimer: This is to say that I do not own either the characters from Star Trek Voyager or any of the Gundam cartoons and am not making any profit from them whatsoever. So I would appreciate it if the lawyers of those who do own these respective shows do not arrive at my door with a cease and desist order because I really do not mean any harm in using them.  I just want to tell a story that I thought up.

Note: I apologize in advance to fans of both shows if there are any mistakes made in the content, portrayal or anything else of the two shows. I watch Voyager always even if it is in reruns and have Gundam Wing Endless Waltz taped so most of my information will becoming from these sources. I have seen the cartoon series Gundam Wing but since it has been taken out of regular programming by the station I watched it on I must rely on websites and my own memory of the show itself in order to fill in certain gaps. If any of you notice any mistakes and know the truth please do not be afraid to email me and I will try to make the appropriate changes. Also anyone who approved/liked the pairing of Seven of Nine with Commander Chakotay should not read this or at least refrain from sending me flaming emails about what I intend to do in this fanfic. 

Summary: Voyager enters a new region of space and is confronted by enemies unlike anything they have experienced before. In order to survive it will take the ambition of a certain passionate lieutenant and a large portion of luck.

Wings of the Future Stardate 51253.3, Delta Quadrant, U.S.S Voyager 

            "You're not going to win this one Jason!!" yelled Zechs as he pushed his right arm forward to make the Epyon to block the beam saber coming down from above.

            "Says you 'Lightning Count'!" Jason Stone declared in return as he tried to force his beam saber downward to complete his attack.

            It had been like this off and on for awhile now with neither of them managing to score a serious hit. His Wing Zero was an even match for Zechs Marquise's Epyon and it was quite possible for the battle to continue indefinitely. That would not deter him though because deep within him burned a desire unlike anything else that compelled him to keep fighting until he was either defeated or victorious. Still he had to admit that he may have underestimated his opponent in this instance, he was better than his sources had led him to believe. Turning his thoughts back to the action for a minute he dodged to the side for a moment to avoid a slash from the Epyon's blade and brought up his twin buster rifle. It took him only a section to line up his shot and once the targeting crosshairs confirmed a targeting lock he pulled the trigger. With a bright burst of energy the energy was released causing it to streak towards it's assigned target with great speed and accuracy. However just as it seemed that the attack would be successful Zechs fired his mobile suits engines and got out of the way. Fortunately the blast seemed to have at least done some damage as the crackle of energy and a scorch mark were visible on the right wing.

            "Not bad kid but a singe mark like that is still a long way from decisive as far as this battle is concerned." Colonel Marquise said with a bit of admiration as well as determination to do better with his next attack.

            "Don't worry Zechs a decisive blow is close at hand and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by who it'll be who deals it!" Jason said as he fired his own engines to chase after his nemesis.

            How I'm going to make good on that boast I'm not quite sure but that's the point. , Jason thought to himself as he laid down a volley of suppressive fire with his shoulder mounted gatling guns to keep Zechs occupied, This program is a lot better than the others Jake sent me and it **is** the only one I haven't been able to beat so far.

            An example of why made itself evident when the Epyon turned tightly to the right leaving him to wrench the controls in an attempt to bring his shield around to cover his exposed side. No sooner was it in place then the green blade of Trieze's ultimate creation made contact and Jason had to strain in order to keep his defense from being broken. While wondering what to do next a sudden inspiration hit him and with no warning he ceased pushing his shield against the Epyon's blade and used his boosters to fire him upwards and over the Epyon. Not prepared for this Zechs's suit continued forward leaving him vulnerable to attack for a few precious seconds. Not one to spurn such a chance he brought his twin buster rifle and zeroed in ( no pun intended) on the engines of the Epyon. He would only get one chance at this working because regardless of whether or not he terminated this simulation the Zechs he was facing would remember everything and would not fall for the same move a second time. That was one of the benefits of this program, while it was not a sentient program like Vic Fontaine it did learn from every encounter and that is what made it such a good program. It forced him to push himself with every encounter and it was a challenge like that which kept bringing him back to this program every chance he got.

            "Got you now Lightning Count!!" Jason said as he watched the crosshairs turn red.

            "Valia to Lieutenant Stone! Get out of the holodeck and get to engineering now!!" , came a female's voice over the comm., "Your shift started twenty minutes ago and B'Ellana is on the warpath today!"

            "WHAT!!" Jason said as he brought up the holodeck's chronometer to check the time himself.

            Unfortunately his friend Ensign Valia was telling the truth which meant that unless he left right now and made up a convincing cover story he was going to be cleaning the plasma ducts for a week. Still he hated to leave not when he was so close to beating this program but as luck would have it the choice was made for him. No sooner did he look at the forward monitor than he saw the emerald blade of the Epyon's saber slam into him. The action sliced the Wing Zero in half and the program came to an end with a flame ridden explosion as the Gundam's fuel cell exploded.

            "Program terminated." Said the computer's voice emotionlessly as his hopes of victory rained down in little pieces in front of him.

            Sighing to himself he straightened out his uniform and exited the holodeck hoping he could make it to engineering before Xena wannabe Torres decided to go all scary Xena on him. On the plus side though it was a fairly routine day on Voyager, no spatial anomalies or hostile alien forces to fight against. On the down side however the half-Klingon half-human Chief who gave him orders was on the outs with her on again off again boyfriend Lieutenant Tom Paris which meant trouble for those in engineering. Not that she did anything to unreasonable to them but hearing her snap at them constantly about trivial things or just because she felt like it was not how he wanted to spend his shift.

            Ah well! With any luck something will happen with the forward power cuplings and I'll spend the next five hours in the jefferies tubes. he thought to himself trying to look on the bright side of things.

            True a job like that would be murder on his neck and back but at least the chances of Torres actually coming all that way to give him a piece of her mind was unlikely. After all no one really wanted to make their bad moods worse which meant that the Chief Engineer would stay in main engineering. Finally approaching the doors that lead to his destination he took a deep breath and stepped in to face whatever fate had in store for him. Inside he could tell that he was right about B'Ellana's temper because everywhere he looked people were going much quicker than was usual. Most likely they were attempting to fix all the mistakes and/or problems they could so as to appease the angry goddess they answered to and improve their work environment. Ensign Susan Valia noticed him immediately and strode towards him as quick as she could without attracting attention to herself. From the look on her face it had been a task and a half keeping Torres from realizing he was late for his shift. No doubt she had spun some sort of wild story about him coming into work early to work on a problem with the EPS manifolds and just hadn't returned yet. He doubted that it would fool someone as cynical as B'Ellana but as long as he sounded convincing when she no doubt grilled him about the 'results' of his diagnostic she would probably let him go with an insult.

            "I can't believe you're late **AGAIN**!!" , Valia exclaimed as she grabbed him by the arm and gently dragged him to an out of the way station, "You were playing that Gundarn program again weren't you!?"

            "That's Gundam Susan and I didn't intend to be late" , Jason said in his defense as he kept an eye out for trouble, "I just got a little distracted and loss track of time."

            "Whatever!  The point is I'm getting tired of pulling your ass out of the fire!!" , Valia said as she picked up a data pad and after tapping the controls a few times shoved it into his hands, "Here! I told her that you were dealing with a fluctuation in the aft power relay and that you'd be back soon. Here is what you'll have to know and say in case she decides to pursue it further."

            Bringing it up he began to memorize the information, paying more attention to some sections than to others, hoping that it would save his hide when the time came to use it.

            "Lieutenant Stone!" came a voice that made it obvious whose volatile personality generated it.

            Steeling himself he turned to see B'Ellana stride towards him with a look on her face that made him wish he was facing the Borg right then. At least then he wouldn't have to wonder what was going to happen next, they may be powerful but a Borg was also predictable.

            "Yes Chief?" he said as casually as he could so as to keep her from being too suspicious.

            "Where have you been!? Your shift started twenty minutes ago!" Torres said with her bad mood obvious in every word.

            "I was running a diagnostic on the aft power relay. I had detected a minor fluctuation there earlier and thought it worth looking into." He said with the faint hope that she would buy the explanation.

            "I **checked** with the ship's sensors! You were in the holodeck so unless aft jefferies tube 23 has suddenly been relocated to deck five you're lying." Torres said with eyes daring him to come up with a better excuse.

            For a moment he considered doing just that but thankfully Fate it seemed had decided to take pity on him as the ship suddenly rocked violently. This sent many a crewmember up against their consoles while others were simply knocked flat on their backsides. He was lucky enough to be near one of the supports holding up the walkways on the upper levels so he had something to hold onto. For B'Ellana though she had the misfortune of tumbling into Ensign Valia and sending them both to the ground. Falling back into his training in Starfleet he went immediately to the nearest active console and tried to get an external view of the ship with the sensors. It would have taken something pretty powerful to cause the ship to shake like that and that usually meant things would get stressful really soon. Usually it meant something big like a Borg cube or maybe Species 8472 but came up on the screen was the last thing that he had been expecting.

U.S.S Voyager, Bridge, Same Time 

            "Report!" Janeway demanded as she exited her Ready Room and made her way to the Captain's chair.

            "A large contingent of ships just came out of Warp and immediately began attacking." , Chakotay replied as he began to sift through the sensor readings and reports he was getting from the computer beside his chair.

            As the ship shook again Tuvok decided to add something.

            "They are of unfamiliar design but sensors indicate that their weapons compliment is significantly stronger to Voyagers." The Vulcan said as he continued to work his station.

            "Mr. Kim any answer to our hails?" The Captain asked as she braced herself against another attack.

            "Negative Captain. I have continuously hailed each ship but no response." Harry replied in a tone that indicated he was decidedly nervous about their chances.

            "Shields are down to 70%." Tuvok reported as he braced himself against his console as another shot from the unknown ships slammed against the protective barrier surrounding the ship.

            "Helm, evasive pattern beta sigma. Engage." Janeway ordered as she began to pour over the same data as her first officer.

            "The ships are in pursuit and are continuing their attack." Tuvok reported as he watched the sensor contacts on the screen in front of him.

            "Fire aft torpedo launchers! Full spread!" , Janeway commanded, "Helm  come to heading 115 mark 62, full impulse."

            Everyone on the bridge watched as the torpedoes impacted against their adversaries shields and waited eagerly for the report from Tuvok as to how much damage was done. They all knew that it was generally in these first few moments of battle that the most likely outcome would make itself known. It was not set in stone but if their own ship's weapons proved to be too weak then the best they could hope for was a successful retreat. They had been lucky these past few years in the Delta quadrant but with no reinforcements from Starfleet and limited resources to draw upon they all knew that it was only a matter of time before that luck ran out.

            "Minimal damage to three of the five ships. Their forward shields are holding." Tuvok reported with some concern that could only be heard by those who knew him well.

            "Alright. Time for some unconventional tactics." , The Captain said with a look that told everyone that 'unconventional' was an understatement, "Helm come about hard 180 degrees and divert auxiliary power into the impulse engines."

            "A game of 'Chicken' Captain?" asked Tom Paris from the helm position as he followed the orders he had been given.

            "Exactly." , Kathryne replied with a smile that made it clear that she had no doubt who would flinch first, " Tuvok when the enemy ships close to half a million kilometers fire all phaser banks and three full spreads of photon torpedoes."

            The shaking of the ship grew more violent the closer they got to the enemy ships but not once did the Captain look as though she was going to order a retreat. She just sat there and looked at the view screen with a expressionless look on her face that almost made her look like a Vulcan if not for the lack of pointy ears. Chakotay was almost as stoic but most bridge personnel could tell that he was waiting with baited breath to see if the enemy ships would veer off. While not all of them were as fascinated by the euphemisms of ancient Earth they all knew the general premise of what their leader was attempting. If the enemy ships did not veer out of the way they would receive serious damage from Voyager's weapons at that close range. If they did turn away then Voyager would have a clear escape route to go to warp and continue on their way home. That is of course assuming that these hostile forces weren't part of a more militant faction because if that was the case they would be flying right into the hornet's nest.

            Attention returned to the screen as it lit up with the crimson beams of energy and brilliant explosions that were the result of a full onslaught from Voyager's weapons. For a few brief moments no one could see anything as anti-matter explosions and the impacts of phaser fire on the shields of the enemy filled the screen. Just as things were beginning to clear up the ship shook with a violent jerk as if their shields had just scrapped against those of another's ship. This was a positive indication that the enemy ships had indeed veered away although no doubt a bit later than the Captain had originally thought they would.

            "Tuvok?" Janeway asked as open space became visible on the screen.

            "Three of the four ships have taken heavy damage. All five are taking up a position twenty million kilometers off our bow with the two least damaged ships taking up defensive positions." Tuvok reported as he brought the enemy ships' position visible on the main screen.

            Just as the tactical officer had reported three of the ships appeared to have taken serious damage with the two positioned between them and Voyager only moderately better off. While this made them less of a threat than before the bridge crew by no means relaxed their posture as they all knew that their own status had yet to be ascertained.

            "What kind of shape are we in Tuvok?" Janeway asked as she turned to look at her longtime friend and chief of security.

            "Sheilds are down to 30%, forward torpedo launchers are offline and there is damage to decks 10, 13 and 19." , Tuvok replied as the reports appeared in front of him on his console, "Remarkably well considering our close proximity to the attacking vessels."

            "Perhaps now with more than half of their fighting force severely damaged they might be willing to talk." , Chakotay said grimly, "I'd sure like to know what we did to warrant an attack like this." 

            "Indeed. Seven do you recognize the ships?" Janeway asked the former Borg drone and resident expert on Delta quadrant species.

            "Negative Captain. The low concentration of planetary bodies in this region made it a low priority for assimilation and thus ignored by the Collective." Seven replied with a slight shake of her head as nothing in her vast knowledge could identify their attackers.

            "Well then we'll just have to do this the old fashioned way." , Janeway said with a frown due to the lack of information, "Mr. Kim open hailing frequencies."

            With a press of a button Kim said "Hailing frequencies opened Captain."

            "Unknown vessels this is Captain Janeway of the Federation starship Voyager. We are on a mission of peaceful exploration and mean you no harm." , Janeway stated in as diplomatic a way as possible to prevent hostilities from breaking out again, "Please explain why you launched an unprovoked attack on my ship."

            For several moments every member of the bridge crew waited for a response, waited for this unknown but hostile enemy to explain why it had fired upon them. However nothing answered their questioning minds and they were left to wonder about a new problem of why there was no response. It could be any one of a number of things from incompatible communications equipment to simply a lack of a universal translator. Most including the Captain hoped that it was the former because if it was then they could deal with it accordingly but if it was the latter then things would become complicated. Just then Tom Paris noticed something beneath the ships that was different then it had been before but he was uncertain as to what exactly it was he was seeing. Fortunately Janeway saw it a moment later and helped to remedy that problem.

            "Mr. Tuvok, magnify the area directly beneath the three ships." Kathrine ordered as she squinted slightly to try and make out the small dots beneath the enemy ships.

            A few moments later the section of the screen enlarged to roughly five times the norm and the little dots became a little more recognizable. They appeared to be spacecraft of some kind and there were definitely a lot of them but other than that little could be made out about their possible function. 

            "Magnification 10." Janeway ordered as she began to compare what she was seeing against what she had seen during her time as a Starfleet officer.

            Once more the screen enlarged and what it showed them was a clear picture of something none of them had ever seen before outside a planet-side engagement. They looked like humanoid robots but their design made it clear that they were military oriented in nature from the numerous weapons ports on their surface. The only indication that there might be a pilot inside was the presence of a simple external camera that was focused on their position. True it could simply be a computer controlled attack drone, she had certainly seen enough of those used by some of the more primative species in the Alpha quadrant. Still something told her that was not the case, there was something about how they were arranged that bespoke of an organic mind. 

            Well only one way to find out. , Janeway thought before saying, "Mr. Tuvok analysis?"

            "There are approximately fifty-two spacecraft armed with high powered plasma rifles, twin torpedo launchers and an unknown weapon stored in their sides." , Tuvok replied as the information scrolled up his screen, "I have confirmed that each of the spacecrafts have at least one humanoid life forms in them although there are ten with two life forms."

            "Still not a credible threat. We should be able to defeat them easily." Said Seven of Nine from her position at the console directly behind the Captain's chair.

            "True but I would rather that this conflict not proceed any further than it has already." , Janeway said as she almost rolled her eyes at the former Borg's analysis of the situation, "Continue hailing them Mr. Kim. Make it clear that we do not wish to continue hostilities but that we will defend ourselves if they attack."

            "Aye Captain." Harry responded.

Engineering, U.S.S Voyager 

            "Well there's something you don't see everyday." Jason thought to himself as he looked at the fifty some alien ships heading towards them.

            He and the rest of the crewmen in engineering had been busy dealing with the repairs of the battle and had only recently had a chance to take a breather. The first thing he had done was punch up the video feed from the bridge so that he could see what had been so kind as to save him from B'Elanna's wrath. Not that he liked being in a ship that was being shot at, in fact he hated it, but still if he had to choose between an attack and facing an unhappy half-human half-Klingon female he would take his chances with an attack. At least that would give him some chance of survival instead of none at all. Still nothing could have prepared him for what appeared on the view screen and left him at a loss for words. Despite their obviously alien designs he could recognize them as mobile suits right off the bat and it floored him to think that there was actually a species that employed them in battle. Near as he could recall no species used them in battle in the Alpha quadrant with the only thing coming close being the land based battle armors. Those of course were only a little bigger than the person wearing them and he had never heard of them being used successfully in space combat. Looking at the readings from the primary sensor array he could see that they were fairly well armed but their appearance made it look as though they were just foot soldiers. After all they were all identical to one another and you would think that a special pilot/soldier would personalize his suit or at least have some sort of distinguishing mark. Of course that was beside the point which was there were over fifty ships heading in Voyager's direction and only he had any idea of what they might be capable of which only made him worry more.

            What could this species be thinking? Surely they realize that if we can disable their weapon's array with our weapons we can take care of something barely the size of a shuttlecraft. he thought to himself as he tried to get enhanced scans of the weapons and propulsion systems.

            He knew something was wrong with this scenario but the question was whether or not it was them making the mistake or the commanding officer of the opposing ships. Unfortunately he didn't receive much information from the sensors and from the fractal patterns in the data he suspected the mobile suits were shielded somehow from sensor scans. Probably the only reason he was getting this much information as this was because this was a first contact environment and both sides were just getting used to what the other had to work with. Next time neither would have that luxury which made him determined to get as much information as he could get his hands on just in case his bad feeling turned out to be accurate. 

            He didn't have long to wait since once the first of the enemy mobile suits reached the fifty million kilometer range they opened fire. In the seconds that passed he wasn't sure what hit him harder the floor or the fact that such small weapons actually managed to rock the ship like a hit from a Romulan Warbird. Needless to say he needed a few moments to recover from both but he only got one as a series of smaller jolts rocked ship and caused a engineering station beside him to explode. Using a nearby support column he got himself back to his feet and returned to his station to see what was going on and help with repairs. The ship's shields were being hit hard but so far they were holding strong but on the offensive side of things matters weren't nearly so positive. Again and again the flair of phasers or the explosions of photon torpedoes filled the screen but despite the valiant efforts of Lt. Tuvok, whom he assumed was at tactical, the number of enemies destroyed seemed inconsequential. He was amazed at their speed and maneuverability and when you add in the fact that these mobile suits had shields and you had one **BAD** situation.

            Thankfully though their closer proximity allowed for better scans of their systems but at the speed they were going he could only concentrate the scans on one mobile suit at a time. However that was stopped by another thunderous shaking of the ship after which his station went dead. Cursing for a second he left his station to look for one that was operational when another shot hit but this time the consequences were worse than a blown console. A familiar klaxon began to echo throughout the room and it only took one look at the warp core to know what that meant. Already B'Ellana was ordering everyone out of the room and he wasn't about to defy an order from her when he was already on her bad side forget staying to get killed. He was among the first to get out but that didn't make him feel safe in the slightest because as long as those powerful mobile suits were out there they were vulnerable.

            I have a feeling it's just gonna be one of those weeks! he thought to himself as he shook his head in dread of what was to come.


	2. Problems and Solutions

U.S.S Voyager, 2 Days Later 

**__**

**__**

Captain's Log : Supplemental

It is times like these that I can truly appreciate how diverse and unknown the universe really is. It has been two days since we escaped from the alien ships we encountered and Voyager's crew is still struggling to attend to the damage caused by that battle. Main power is due to come back online by noon today but weapons, shields and propulsion are another matter entirely. Those systems bore the brunt of what these unknown attackers had to throw at us and had the battle gone on any longer than it had they would have been completely unsalvageable. Surprisingly though it was not the main alien ships that inflicted the majority of the damage but rather the fifty or so smaller one man vessels that were launched after the initial skirmish. We have no record of vessels even matching those designs in our database and certainly none with the power these craft exhibited. Hopefully the senior staff and I will be able to come up with something at this mornings meeting.

"So anyone want to tell me how we got our asses kicked by things the size of shuttlecraft?" Tom Paris asked with less than his usual restraint and tact.

"While I would not have used Lt. Paris' exact words I share his concern." Tuvok stated with a raised eyebrow being the only outward sign that he was troubled as well.

"B'Ellana?" Janeway asked with as much politeness as she could muster.

She knew that the half-Klingon half-Human chief engineer was not in the best of moods since the attack considering the workload that had been dropped in her lap. Rumor had it that engineering personnel were actually drawing straws to see who would be lucky enough to get a work assignment away from Lt. Torres and who would have to suffer. If the look on B'Ellana's face was anything to go by they may well have been justified in their concerns.

"I'm afraid Captain that there isn't much I can add to what we already know." , Torres said as she tried to remain calm and professional rather than mad and testy, "All of the one man craft had some sort of shielding which reflected our sensors making it impossible to get an in depth scan of the vessels."

"I'm afraid she's right. I tried every trick I know to get past their shielding but the data I got back was fragmented to say the least." Ensign Harry Kim stated with disappointment.

"So basically what you are saying is that we got next to nothing." Chakotay stated calmly yet encouragingly in an attempt to keep things peaceful.

Janeway took note of this fact and was glad that he was trying to look for the proverbial silver lining even if there wasn't much of one there to begin with. The pride of Voyager's crew had taken a hit today and it was slow in recovering from it. Still situations like these were bound to happen when exploring uncharted space with only what your own sensors told you for intelligence. While it was true that what he said wasn't very encouraging the way he said it would make the rest believe that he had the utmost confidence in their abilities to triumph over this latest crisis.

"While it is true that we do not have factual evidence to aide in combating this species we can make educated guesses as to their technology and capabilities." Seven stated from her chair with the icy nonchalance of the Borg collective she was once a part of only a short time ago.

"Well one fact that was made blatently obvious was that their speed and maneuverability." , Tom stated with irritation borne of trying to evade the small craft, "It was all I could do just to avoid more than half of them. If we're going to go up against them again we're either going to have to decrease their speed and maneuverability or increase our own."

"That won't be easy. We've already made considerable enhancements to both the warp and impulse drives already." , Torres commented with a frown, "Barring a sudden brush of insight I don't think we'll be able to get much more of either out of this ship."

"Then taking away our enemies advantage is what we'll have to do." Janeway decided for them all.

"We could employ a dampening field around the ship to interfere with their crafts systems. It would diminish their ability to control their ship as effectively." Seven suggested with a stoic confidence.

"It wouldn't be entirely effective. If these ships have shielding that can deflect our sensors then chances are they have protection against a dampening field as well." Kim commented uncomfortably as he received a somewhat icy glare from the former Borg drone.

"Some is better than none. Get on it." Chakotay stated.

"What about weapons? Sheilds?" Janeway asked as she looked at Tuvok.

"The enemy craft's abilities make a positive target lock unstable at best and aiming manually would make hitting a target random at best." , Tuvok replied with an almost discouraged tone in his voice, "I will attempt to modify the targeting sensors to anticipate enemy tactics and extend the photon torpedoes range and maneuverability. This should improve tactical results by at least forty-five percent."

Great. Another five percent and we'll stand a fifty percent chance of hitting them. Paris thought bitterly as he remembered the small number of enemy fighter craft that Tuvok managed to destroy last time.

"Too bad we couldn't go out in shuttle craft and fight them head to head." Harry stated which caused more than a few to look at him in shock.

Janeway couldn't help but agree with their reactions. A comment like that they would have expected from Tom Paris but not conservative Ensign Kim. Still the idea was one she was sure everyone had thought since they left the small one-man craft in their dust.

"Unfortunately Ensign we possess insufficient shuttlecraft to match them in terms of numbers and given their obvious advantage over a starship it is highly unlikely that your proposal would succeed." Tuvok said with detached indifference.

"Then why don't we design something from scratch like we did the Delta Flyer?" , Tom suggested in an attempt to bail out his buddy from the Vulcan's onslaught, "We can use what sensor data we have on those ships and with a little Starfleet and Borg know how we can probably come up with something."

"Given the fact that there is no record of any race in the Federation having designed a craft remotely similar it is unlikely that we could construct one of our own before coming under attack again." , Tuvok responded in rebuttle to Paris' suggestion, "Add to that the difference in numbers and your suggestion would be no more likely to succeed than Mr. Kim's."

Sensing that another Paris/Tuvok debate was about to break out Janeway decided to intercede before things got too far out of control.

"In any case we have enough on each of our plates to work on at the moment." , Janeway stated as she got up from the conference table, "Begin working to modify the specified systems but continue to look for anything else that might give us an edge over these new enemies of ours. Dismissed."

The Captain watched as the senior staff filed out of the room until only she and her second in command Chakotay were left in the room.

"Thanks for stepping in before those two went at it again." , Chakotay said with a smile, "I don't think that I could have kept my composure if they started debating logic versus human insight again."

"I don't blame you but this situation has everyone on edge." Janeway said in acknowledgement.

"Understandable considering we were just beaten by things only a fraction of Voyager's size." Chakotay stated as a more serious look came over his face.

"Don't forget the story of David and Goliath, size doesn't necessarily decide a battle." Janeway pointed out as they both headed towards the conference room's exit.

"Lets just hope that we have better luck than Goliath." Chakotay muttered under his breath.

U.S.S Voyager, Engineering, 13:20 hours 

**__**

**__**

"Well this is exactly how I wanted to spend my afternoon." Jason muttered to himself as he continued with the repairs to the ship's systems.

Ever since the Chief Engineer had come back from her staff meeting with Captain Janeway she had been working everyone to the bone trying to get the ship back in fighting trim. Needless to say she seemed to take special pleasure in giving him the most difficult or most boring tasks she could think of and smiled at him gleefully each and every time their eyes met. Obviously she was enjoying his discomfort and while this would normally make him mad he was willing to give her this small bit of pleasure since she obviously had the biggest load of them all to work away at. Rumor had it that B'Ellana had been given the task of modifying several key systems in order to bring them up to the aliens' level. Personally he couldn't see there being that much more they could do since the previous hostile races they had encountered had forced them to do the same. To the best of his knowledge there wasn't a system on the ship that hadn't been modified at some point in time and half of them had been guess work since there wasn't exactly a lot of time to theorize everything out.

So basically I have no idea how we're going to get ourselves out of this one. he thought to himself as the information coming up on the screen finally stated that the system he had been working on for the past two hours was operating within normal parameters.

Turning around he was about to move on to the next job on his list of tasks for the day when he saw Ensign Valia coming his way with Lt. Torres in tow. To this he could only roll his eyes and wonder what he had done in some previous life to earn such bad karma as to have his best friend and his boss team up against him. To the best of his knowledge the only thing he had done lately to piss off Valia was be late a little too often for his shifts but that was more or less to be expected of him and not a revenge justifiable act. For a moment he looked around the room for some escape route he could take to stave off this moment for at least an hour longer but none of the lifts were at his level and there was far too much activity going on by any of the access shafts to the jefferies tubes. This meant that there was no way he could make his escape without making it obvious he was trying to escape and that would only add more anti-matter to the mix and he was in for it as it was so there was nothing more to do but sit back and take it like a man.

Torres seemed to sense this and smiled but in a way that lacked the usual feral grin that usually accompanied her foul moods. This could either work out to be very good for him or very bad and right now he wasn't sure which would be preferable. After all if it was very good then he was bound to catch himself some heat from other crew members who were currently feeling miserable with their workloads. After all misery loved company and seeing him escape it when they could not wouldn't earn him any popularity points. If however it was very bad then B'Ellana had found some new depth of punishment to subject him to in which case he wished that someone would just do the humane thing and just kill him right then and there.

"Don't worry Lieutenant. Ensign Valia was just telling me about your hobbies." Torres stated in an apparent attempt to calm him down.

That assurance did little to raise his spirits as there were several of his hobbies that Valia had discovered over the course of their friendship and there were a few of them he would rather some attractive female superior officers not know about. Nothing too bad but enough to give them incentive to make his life difficult until they weren't mad at him anymore.

"What hobby in particular chief?" he asked in a perfectly neutral tone of voice as he tried to pick up on any twitches or glances that might let him know what was going on with the Chief Engineer and his best friend.

"According to Ensign Valia you're into armored suits like the ones that attacked us. She also tells us that you've been designing one in your spare time." B'Ellana said with a smile on her face that was either the 'so that is what you've been spending your time on' smile or the 'looks like we've finally caught a break' smile.

Given the potential consequences of either he wasn't sure whether or not he should be proud that he was going to be able to show off his work. If what he showed Torres impressed her enough he would wind up showing the senior staff his design schematics which would be pressure enough since he had not shown anyone outside his close friends what he had done so far as far as designing a Gundam. Also if this got past the senior staff then he would most likely be the one they put in charge of making one since this was such an atypical design that no one else on board could do it. That would more than likely put the fate of the entire ship in his hands and depending on his creation they would either be able to fight off these new aliens or be destroyed by them. That added a whole new load of pressure onto him that he wasn't sure that he wanted placed on his shoulders.

"Not exactly like them Chief. I've just been taking some designs from an old Earth program and been trying to reverse engineer it based on what I know." He explained in such a way that made it look as though he were being honest but at the same time adding nothing that might give her reason to pursue this conversation further.

"Let's see what you've got so far." B'Ellana said in a voice that hinted that she knew what he was trying to do but still wanted to see what he had to offer.

Silently he cursed his luck as he led them over to a workstation as there was no way to refuse short of insubordination and hiding his work wasn't worth that kind of trouble. It wasn't that he didn't want to help his crew, he just felt that what he had done thus far was nowhere near a completed work and stood a real chance of blowing up in someone's face if he had made a mistake somewhere along the way thus far in his design. Add that to the fact that the Gundam he had designed was made with parts and technology from the twenty-first and twenty-second centuries and it would take more than a little work to come up with a twenty-fourth century equivalent. Hopefully once Chief Torres saw this or if all else failed the senior staff they would discount the Gundam as a possible solution to their current dilemma.

"Computer, display file 'Stone Gundam Design' version 3.1" he said out loud and watched as the plans he had made thus far began to appear on the screen before him.

Since he already knew what the files contained he decided he would focus his attention on Valia and Torres to see how they would react to his designs. They would provide a valuable range of reactions that he could use as a frame of reference if this went to the senior staff. After all they were on two different ends of the spectrum as far as how they looked at things from an engineering perspective. Where Torres was willing to try the unorthadox or the untested Valia was the most by the book engineer he had ever met and rarely went outside established fact unless the situation demanded it. Looking at Torres' face as she perused the file and accessed the sub-files attached to it he could see that some of what she saw confused her while others seemed to impress her quite a bit. Not surprise considering much of the design components had been invented almost completely from scratch by him whereas other parts were just named without any real thought being put into how to create them. Valia on the other hand was less responsive with what she saw since she had caught him numerous times working on the design during his duty shifts. Still those were just bits and pieces of a puzzle whereas this was the complete picture so now that she was able to see everything she seemed to be thinking 'uh huh' and 'so that's what this is connected to'. What this would mean in the end he didn't know but he felt that he should lay out the most important fact in front of the chief before her thoughts got a little too far in ahead of the rest of her body.

"I would ask though Chief that you keep in mind that this design was based on twenty-first and twenty-second century technology and I am not even done that version of the Gundam." , he explained as soon as the two women seemed to finish looking over the file, "Not to mention that I have nothing but holo-deck simulations to prove that any of my custom made components actually work. There is no guarantee that this will even work at all much less be enough against these hostile aliens if we are able to construct a working prototype."

"Still this is more than anything the rest of us have been able to come up with and from what I see here the Captain will definitely want to hear about this." , Torres said as she grabbed a nearbye data padd and downloaded the file to it before tapping her comm. Badge, "Torres to Janeway, assemble the senior staff. I think we just might have something new to show those aliens."

With that B'Ellana Torres strode out of the engine room with energy in her stride that told him that the creativity engine in her head must have just hit Warp 9 and was well on its way to Warp 12. Looking at Valia he shot her a sour look that clearly said 'now look what you've gotten me into' which of course only made her smile grow wider. Just as he was about to turn back and finish the work he had been assigned before he had been ambushed the doors to engineering reopened and admitted an annoyed Torres.

"What are you waiting for Lieutenant? Come on!" B'Ellana said in a way that made it clear this was an order not a request.

Following her out this time he could have sword he heard laughter break out in the engine room after the doors had finished closing.

Well look at it this way Stone, it can only get better from here on in. he thought to himself but then kicked himself as he realized he had just jinxed himself.

Briefing Room, U.S.S Voyager 13:50 hours 

**__**

**__**

I am **SO** screwed. Jason thought to himself as he sat at the end of the table opposite the Captain's chair.

Torres had elected to give her opinion on his basic design supposedly to give it more weight in the eyes of the others and leave him to answer any specific questions asked afterwards. Believe it or not though he actually wanted to go up first since it would mean he wouldn't have to stew in his open apprehension and fear for twenty minutes. By the time attention was shifted his way he would be lucky to be able to get more than a few syllables out much less anything else. It was not a task that any member of the crew overly enjoyed when they were asked to make a presentation or in his case a proposal to the senior staff. Personally it felt like he was being put on trial by the faculty back at the academy and that his entire future rested on the hope that he could persuade them to see things his way. Which generally meant that he was doomed to whatever punishment they thought was appropriate because he had never been able to win an argument against a superior officer and he doubt he would prevail in a room full of them. Hearing that B'Elanna was about to finish up her brief on his design and its feasibility he tried to put himself in a more positive state of mind figuring it couldn't hurt his chances.

"… So while his design might be a bit baffling in a few areas it shows some promise." B'Elanna stated before sitting down which was his cue to stand up and be interrogated.

Standing up he went over to the main display and brought up the plans he had managed to put together thus far on the 24th century version of Wing Zero. Truthfully he wished that he had been given more time to fill in a few spaces because right then it looked like he had just drawn it up in the past week when in fact he had been carefully putting it together for the past seven years. Still a great many of the parts and designs he had come up with were one of a kind and hadn't even been tested outside of a holo-deck which meant that he had no idea if they even worked. That was one of the problems when putting together something from scratch that had never before been attempted by anyone in the history of the Federation. It was just a bunch of half-baked ideas and assumptions with no real concrete evidence to prove that it was right much less would work. Still he would explain what he could and bull shit things where he could not and hope that he wouldn't wind up in too much trouble for taking up the senior staff's time.

"Ever since Starfleet Academy a few other engineers and myself have been trying to take machines, spacecraft and various other devices from works of fiction and trying to make real life working copies. It is a challenging job at best since most works of fiction do not go into a great deal of detail as to how their dreamt up devices do the things they do." , Stone explained as he pressed a button to have the screen cycle through his design files, "The few times that they do try to explain things it not much more than gibberish so my friends and I have often been forced to design certain components from scratch or settle for devices of lesser capabilities than we originally wanted. About seven years ago we decided to take on the job of designing a mobile suit designated as a Gundam from an old Earth program."

Pressing a button he began to run recordings of his previous battles on the holo-deck from both inside and outside the cockpit of the Wing Zero. Needless to say a few of the senior staff started to look more interested than they had before and this convinced him that he had their undivided attention.

"We would work on it together over sub-space, help each other when we hit design snags, and try to come up with a working design. Unfortunately since none of us were independently wealthy we knew that we could never actually afford to have one constructed. The most we could hope for was a complete set of schematics and some holo-deck simulations." , Jason said as he brought up the 21-22nd century design schematics of the Wing Zero, "As you can see here we were able to complete schematics for a Gundam but this was designed with the idea that only period parts would be used in its construction. Likewise its offensive and defensive capabilities were arranged to make it for use against period opponents. I had begun to work on a 24th century equivalent to this design plus a few modifications to make it a match for everything from starships to space stations. Needless to say being dragged out here into the Delta quadrant has given me time to work on it considerably."

With another series of buttons pushed he brought up a rotating view of what he hoped would be the final appearance of the finished 24th century Wing Zero.

"Its weapons would consist of two shoulder mounted swiveling phaser repeaters such as the ones used in Defiant class ships back home, a concentrated energy beam saber as shown here" , Jason explained as he pressed a button that caused the Gundam on the screen to activate its beam saber, "A hidden pair of photon torpedo launchers in the bottom end of the shield and something I'd like to call a trans-phasic buster rifle as a weapon to be used on starship rather than another mobile suit though it could be used to destroy large concentrated groups of enemy mobile suits."

"As for defensive systems it would be completely covered in ablative armor that a colleague 'heard' would be used in the next generation of Starfleet vessels. The shield though would have extra protection in the form of a reflective polymer coating that would disperse most of the power behind energy attacks as well as an independent shield generator. It of course would not be as strong as the main shields but it would provide some extra protection." , Stone continued as he tried to gauge their reactions and opinions from their body language, "However the main and most important defensive ability of the Gundam would be its speed and maneuverability. After conducting some research into the variety of targeting systems employed on most starships and battle cruisers I have concluded that in the hands of an experienced pilot a Gundam capable of maintaining a battle speed of warp one point one should be able to evade most enemy fire."

"Now I know what you are thinking. 'How can anyone pilot something in battle at warp one point one and make it work?' and trust me this was one problem that took me forever to solve but I have a plan to get around that." , Jason stated as he tried to draw the discussion away from that niggling detail, "It was my intention to have these plans for a 24th century Gundam completed by the time we got back to the Federation but it looks as though they will be put to use sooner than expected. Any questions?"

For a moment there was nothing but silence in the room with no one at the table saying even a word but instead looking between him and the screen displaying the final product of his hours of design. He figured they would either laugh at him for having such fantastic ideas or yell at both him and B'Ellana for wasting their time. So needless to say the clapping he began to hear from Captain Janeway and then multiplied by every other member of the senior staff all but floored him. Still he wasn't going to make a move until they did something else because he was still waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop on his head.

"How soon can it be built?" Captain Janeway asked in a tone that seemed to be actually serious.

For a few moments Jason Stone just stood there more than a little dumbfounded at the question and leaving his mind scrambling to come up with some kind of an answer. He had expected her to pick apart his idea, ridicule his ideas or at the very least ask that someone else head the project with him just being a consultant slash advisor. From the way that she was looking at him she apparently wanted him to be the one in charge of the project. Lucky for him he was good at thinking on his feet or he might have made himself look like a right fool by standing there silently any longer.

"Well that's the tricky part Captain. To my knowledge nothing like this has ever been attempted in the entire history of the Federation so a specific timetable for completion will be difficult to come up with." , Jason replied as a separate section of his mind tried to come up with an answer for her, "Over three quarters of the parts for this will likely be custom jobs or entirely original parts designed one day and created the next."

"Your best estimate then?" Janeway asked as she took the reply of his in stride.

"Assuming I can get the materials, tools, equipment, work space and personnel I need and we all work non-stop until it is assembled and programmed?" , he asked rhetorically before continuing, "At least three weeks but probably closer to a month and a half. I doubt anything we have to design and create will work on the first try and there will most certainly be set backs that will have to be taken into account. Given that those alien ships will be looking for us from now on I think it would be best to find some nebula to hide in until either the Gundam is complete or we find another way to deal with them. Besides it will give Lt. Torres time to make repairs."

"Fine. Get on it. You have permission to requisition whatever materials and personnel you deem necessary to get this 'gundam' completed." , Janeway stated with a tone that indicated it was a done deal, "If there is nothing further to discuss then I suggest we all get to work."

With that the meeting was concluded and the various members of the senior staff began to file out of the room. He though stayed behind in the hopes that he could ask the Captain what in the name of Kahles she was thinking putting such confidence in him. He of course had confidence in her abilities to lead, the troubles she had managed to seem the ship through in the past were proof enough of that, it was more himself that he lacked confidence in. He was just a lieutenant and he was being handed a project that could either save or destroy the ship depending on his inventing skills? Man they were **so** screwed. When the room was finally empty he began to move towards the Captain who was still looking over some datapads containing systems status reports and no doubt other ideas for dealing with their new aquaintences. After a few moments in which she seemed to take no notice of him he coughed lightly and as he had hoped she looked up at him.

"Something else you wished to discuss Lieutenant Stone?" Captain Janeway asked in a slightly confused manner.

"Yes Captain. I am slightly confused as to why you would be willing to devote so much time and resources to the pet project of a lieutenant such as myself." , he explained as he tried to sound respectful yet questioning, "Especially since even I don't know whether or not I'll be able to build a working Gundam at all much less in the time frame I mention. This won't be like modifying a shuttle. We will literally be building something from scratch."

"Lieutenant Stone we have been working in uncharted waters since we landed in the Delta Quadrant. Every system in the ship has been modified or outright replaced at one point or another with it most times being to our benefit." , Janeway stated as she put the padd she had been looking at to the side indicating that she was giving him her full attention, "While I'll admit that your Gundam will be slightly more out there than anything we have attempted before you seem to know what you are doing. Besides contrary to what you are probably thinking B'Ellana actually considers you one of her best people."

"She does!?" he said while trying to keep the shock out of his voice.

"Yes. So if the head of Engineering has confidence in you then maybe you should have a little in yourself." Janeway stated with what must have been her best encouraging smile.

"Alright but I reserve the right to say I told you so if this winds up blowing up in our collective faces." He said humorously as he moved towards the exit.

"Duly noted." Replied the Captain.

Once the door closed and he made his way to the turbo-lift he had only one thing to say about his current situation "Oh yeah! Not **too** much pressure on me! No not too much at all!"

Cargo Bay 4, The Next Day, 9:00a.m 

**__**

Okay, here goes nothing! Jason thought to himself as he stood in the middle of the cargo bay that the Captain had set aside for the construction of the Gundam.

There were materials off to the side as well as a fairly decent computer workstation that would be used for the software programming end of the deal. He had a feeling that the rest of the space would be filled up pretty quickly one way or another but hopefully when his time was up and it was time to show something for all their effort it would be well worth it. Today he would be laying down the cornerstone of what had become very important to him over the past five years. He would be assigning specific tasks to each member of the team he had listed in his request that he had sent off last night. It would be of course up to the Captain's personal decision but she seemed determined to give him all the rope he would ever need to hang himself if he was not careful. Still the worse that meant was to be transferred to waste management for a month or two. After all he was sure that the senior staff were pursuing other avenues of attack to deal with these mobile suit using aliens so even if he falls flat on his face they'll find some way of making sure they still survive.

With a sound he recognized he knew his team had finally decided to show themselves and it was time to see who the Captain had cut from his list and whom she had chosen as replacements. The look that appeared on his face though was not one he wanted plastered on his face when addressing his 'troops' for the first time. Mostly because it was one of shock, surprise and more than little confusion since it seemed with the exception of B'Ellana every member of his chosen team was present. The Klingon/Human hybrid was probably swamped with repair detail in all sections of the ship along with putting something together to combat the aliens. He was still wary of his good fortune so far as he knew that for as much good luck he could expect to get an equal portion of bad luck somewhere down the road. He just hoped that it would not come at the expense of the ship and its crew. After all he had expected from the beginning that one of his hair-brained schemes would wind up killing him but he would never wish anything bad to happen to the crew of Voyager.

Well no sense setting yourself up for failure with negative thoughts. , he thought to himself as he looked over the faces of those he would have too work with over the next month or so, Might as well get things started. Time is against us and I want as much time as we can scrounge in order to triple check every single item. 

Putting his hands behind his back he prepared to address the people in front of him although his stance had more to do to keep his hands from fidgeting in plain view.

"As you already know from the events of the past few days we have come up against an enemy with a style of attack never seen in the Alpha quadrant. Unfortunately this means that the majority of our offensive and defensive systems were designed without an opponent like this as well." , He stated as he allowed his eyes to do the walking back and forth among them, "This has put us at a disadvantage and it is a great one that we as a group have been tasked with overcoming. To do that the Captain has tasked me with creating a mobile suit capable of meeting these aliens on their own terms and winning. Keeping that in mind I have chosen you to help me design and construct the mobile suit which will be referred to as a gundam class mobile suit. Much like Voyager it is intended to be the very latest and most sophisticated of its kind in the entire quadrant. I have no idea whether or not we can do this be let's give it our best shot."

Looking to the first member of the team he could tell that the man was at a loss as to why he was here at all.

"Doctor you will be working primarily in sick bay designing two flight suits for those who will be piloting this Gundam. Keep in mind to design the suits to take the edge off of the serious acceleration and sudden changes in direction. One of the primary advantages the enemy mobile suits have over the ship is their maneuverability and speed which makes it logical that our suit will have to either match or surpass them in those areas." , Jason stated calmly as he handed a data padd with all the relevant information to the holographic doctor, "You'll have to co-ordinate with the team in charge of designing the cockpit as well as the propulsion team in order to properly design it. Can you do it?"

"I'll admit I have never undertaken anything like this before … but I will do what I can." The Doctor said with an uncertain smile.

"Just do your best. After all that is all that can really be expected of any of us right?" Jason said as he gave a brief pat on the shoulder as a sign of encouragement.

Moving on to the next team he had to admit that this was the team he expected the most of when taking in the task as a whole.

"Tom, you and Seven of Nine will be in charge of designing the propulsion systems. As the person who managed to break the warp ten barrier you have proven innovative in your designs as well as unconventional in your thinking. This is going to be an asset in the designing of the Gundam." , Stone said as he turned to the blonde former drone, "Seven you represent a storehouse of knowledge from your time among the collective of the Borg. Sift through the information centered around propulsion and help Tom come up with something that will suit our needs."

Both nodded though Seven seemed a little insulted at the thought that she needed Tom's assistance on the task. In her mind she probably thought that she was vastly superior and that Paris would only slow her down. He himself hoped they would act as an equalizer for each other with Tom providing his imagination and Seven adding her self-discipline and efficient mind to the mixture. Together he had little doubt that everything would work out at least on their end.

Moving on he came to the person whom he felt would cause him to have more than one monster headache before the project reached its conclusion.

"Tuvok, while I know that at least half of your time will be spent with the ship's weapon's systems I would like you to utilize whatever free time you have to design the Gundam's weapons system and combat computer. Since it is unlikely that you will be able to design a revolutionary targeting system in the time we have been given I would suggest that you focus your efforts on making it easier for the pilot to manually target an enemy and anticipate tactics." , Jason said as he tried to sound as logical as possible, "If we cannot rely on a computerized targeting system to hit our prey then we must look to other avenues to solve the problem."

"Logical." The Vulcan replied with a raised eyebrow and a nod.

Oh yeah, **BIG** headaches coming my way! he thought to himself as he restrained himself from rolling his eyes.

This came to the last team which made him worry only in as much as it was for the retelling of his past escapades and tardiness.

"Valia and Kim, you will be in charge of the Gundam's sensors and navigation arrays. With so many targets flying around out there I'll need to have a good grasp of the battle field as well as a way to keep from getting run over by the enemy." , Jason stated as he dared his friend from engineering to make a comment, "Make sure the sensors can keep track of as many as objects as possible as well as a detailed analysis so I don't detonate an explosive or power core by accident. The navigational array should try and work in concert with the sensors to warn me of oncoming objects that might either pass me or collide."

Valia of course had to smirk at the mental image of him messing up either by detonating a torpedo or smacking into something no matter whether it was by accident or on purpose. Unfortunately it was at that time that her mind clued into the fact that he had indicated that he would be the one to pilot the Gundam.

"Wait a minute! You intend to be the Gundam's pilot?" , she asked with some confusion and perhaps some anger, "Shouldn't you stay on the ship in case something goes wrong?"

"It's exactly because something could go wrong that I have to be piloting the Gundam. If something malfunctions I want to be able to correct the flaw on sight rather than simply relay commands to someone else who won't know the system as well as I will by the time its completed." , Jason stated as he turned around so he wouldn't have to see the look he was sure Valia was sending his way right at that moment, "Besides unlike the Gundams from which I am drawing my basic design this mobile suit will be larger in order to accommodate a second cockpit from which an engineer will be keeping an eye on the systems and make repairs so I can keep my mind on the battle."

This caused Valia's disgruntled feelings to vanish as he knew she would make sure that she was the one to take the position of mobile suit engineer. He almost felt pity for anyone else who tried out for the position given his experience with Valia and her getting what she wanted. He had been forced to do many a menial duty and fork over plenty of replicator rations in order to 'persuade' her to keep a few secrets and tell a few lies. Anyone who challenged her had better be prepared for one helluva fight and prepared for some of the most underhanded moves ever conceived.

"I myself will be working to co-ordinate the efforts of the entire group as well as design the main body that all of your individual projects will be incorporated into." He stated at last in the hope of curtailing any thoughts some of the team might be having that he was just going to sit on his butt and order them around.

"The rest of your will be assigned according to each section head's needs and time constraints. If one section is falling behind then personnel will be reassigned to help bring it up to par with the others. If any section has more crew members than is absolutely necessary than the excess members will be reassigned to those sections that could use the extra help" , he explained to the crew members whom he had not addressed personally, "Any questions?"

"Yeah, where did you come up with such a lame idea anyways?" a male crew member whom he did not recognize asked.

This is going to be a llloooooonnnnggggg **day**! he thought to himself as he could no longer keep himself from rolling his eyes and looking at the ceiling of the cargo bay.


End file.
